Gel comb

ABSTRACT

A hair care product that has a handle and teeth, such as a comb or pick that includes a reservoir in the handle for the retention of liquid or semi-liquid hair care products, such as gels, mousses and the like. The teeth of the hair care product is in communication with the reservoir in the handle such that when the reservoir in the handle is stimulated such that the contents of the reservoir can travel through the handle and into the area of the teeth, a plurality of apertures irrigated into the teeth allow for the dispensing of the liquid or semi-liquid product through the apertures and onto the user&#39;s hair thereby allowing for quick application and easy storage of the liquid or semi-liquid hair care products. To stimulate the reservoir, the handle can either be squeezed or a pump can be installed on the handle that can optionally open and close the reservoir and its communication with the teeth portion of the comb or pick.

REFERENCE TO PRIOR APPLICATION

This application claims the priority of provisional application61/003,929, filed Nov. 20, 2007 entitled GEL COMB by Anthony G. Emerson.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the field of hair careproducts and specifically to a comb or pick that includes a reservoirfor liquid or semi-liquid products for application to the hair throughsqueezing of the handle of the comb or pick and the release of theliquid or semi-liquid product through apertures found in the teeth ofthe comb or pick.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Hair styling products constitute a large industry for hair of all types.These products can take the form of foams, mousses, gels, liquids andthe like. Typically, a person applies the product to the hair and thenworks the product in with a comb or pick. With this method, it isrequired that if a person wishes to apply the product while away fromhis or her bathroom, he or she must take the product along with him orher, along with the comb or pick. There is a need, therefore, to providea means for applying a hair product that is found within the comb orpick itself, thereby reducing the number of items needed to be carriedto keep a hairstyle fresh throughout the day.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The preferred embodiment of the present invention teaches an applicatordevice for the application of liquid or semi-liquid hair care productscomprising: a handle; a reservoir in the handle for containment of thehair care products; a plurality of teeth in communication with thehandle; a plurality of apertures in the plurality of teeth for theexpulsion of the liquid or semi-liquid hair care products contained inthe reservoir in the handle; and a means of transferring the liquid orsemi-liquid hair care products from the reservoir to the plurality ofapertures in the plurality of teeth.

The above embodiment can be further modified by defining that the meansfor transferring the liquid or semi-liquid hair products from thereservoir is the manual squeezing of the handle such that the liquid orsemi-liquid hair care products are displaced from the reservoir andtransferred to the apertures in the plurality of teeth.

The above embodiment can be further modified by defining that the meansfor transferring the liquid or semi-liquid hair products is a handlethat when placed in a first position provides a barrier separating thereservoir from the plurality of apertures and when placed in a secondposition allows for the free flow of the liquid or semi-liquid hair careproducts from the reservoir in the handle to the plurality of aperturesin the plurality of teeth.

A second embodiment of the instant invention teaches a method forapplying liquid or semi-liquid hair care products to a user's haircomprising: the placement of the liquid or semi-liquid hair careproducts in a refillable reservoir wherein the refillable reservoir iscontained in an apparatus the apparatus further comprising: a handlethat houses the reservoir, which contains the hair care products; aplurality of teeth in communication with the handle; a plurality ofapertures in the plurality of teeth for the expulsion of the liquid orsemi-liquid hair care products contained in the reservoir in the handle;and a means of transferring the liquid or semi-liquid hair care productsfrom the reservoir to the plurality of apertures in the plurality ofteeth; the transfer of the liquid or semi-liquid hair care products fromthe reservoir to the plurality of apertures in the plurality of teeththrough the transferring means.

The above embodiment can be further modified by defining that the meansfor transferring the liquid or semi-liquid hair products from thereservoir is the manual squeezing of the handle such that the liquid orsemi-liquid hair care products are displaced from the reservoir andtransferred to the apertures in the plurality of teeth.

The above embodiment can be further modified by defining that the meansfor transferring the liquid or semi-liquid hair products is a handlethat when placed in a first position provides a barrier separating thereservoir from the plurality of apertures and when placed in a secondposition allows for the free flow of the liquid or semi-liquid hair careproducts from the reservoir in the handle to the plurality of aperturesin the plurality of teeth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a top view of one the preferred embodiment of the instantinvention wherein the hair care device is a pick.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the preferred embodiment of the instantinvention.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the preferred embodiment wherein the interiorportion of the valve in the handle is visible.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the instant invention wherein the apertures inthe teeth can be seen.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the invention wherein the release of hairproduct from the teeth can be seen.

FIG. 6 is a close up view of the section marked 6-6 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side view of an alternate embodiment wherein the hair caredevice is a comb rather than a pick.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Turning to the drawings, the preferred embodiment is illustrated anddescribed by reference characters that denote similar elementsthroughout the several views of the instant invention.

The current invention involves a hair comb or pick that has a hollowhandle. Inside the handle is an inner tube that holds the hair product.The inner tube is then depressable through any number of means to getthe hair product into the hollow handle of the pick or comb. Once in thehollow handle of the pick or comb, the hair product can exit the pick orcomb through a plurality of holes. Once the product exits the holes, itis on the user's head and the pick or comb is used to work the productinto the hair.

The preferred embodiment is a hair pick 10 as shown in FIGS. 1-6. Thepick 10 has a handle 11, a base 12 attached to the handle 11, and aplurality of teeth 13 that extend from the base 12. Between the mainbody of the handle 11 and the base 12, there is positioned a depressablevalve 14. As can be seen in FIG. 2, as the valve 14 is depressed, thereis a plunger 16 inside the neck of the handle 11 that displaces liquidor semi-liquid hair care products that are contained in a reservoir 15located in the handle 11. Once the valve 14 is depressed, the plunger 16is forced into the reservoir 15 and a path between the reservoir 15 andthe base 12 is created for passage of the hair care productstherethrough. The user manually squeeze the handle 11 after the valve 14is opened thereby allowing for the movement of hair care products.

The hair products pass through the base 12 and into the plurality ofteeth 13 and exit through a plurality of apertures 17 located in theteeth 13. This is demonstrated in FIGS. 4-6. Once the hair care productshave made their way through the teeth 13 and out through the apertures17, the hair care products are dispersed into the hair 18 for styling.

An alternate embodiment is shown FIG. 7. The mechanism is the same aswith the pick 10, but is used with a comb 20. The comb 20 has a handle21 with a reservoir 22 that contains liquid or semi-liquid hair careproducts therein. A button 24 is located at the top of the handle. Abarrier 23 exists between the reservoir 22 and the plurality of teeth 27in the comb, the plurality of teeth 27 being connected to a passageway25 through which the hair care products can pass once the barrier 23 isbroken through depression of the button 24.

As with the pick 10, hair products pass through the passageway 25 andinto the plurality of teeth 27. Once the hair care products have madetheir way through the teeth 27 and out through apertures found in theteeth 27, the hair care products are dispersed into the hair forstyling.

The discussion included in this patent is intended to serve as a basicdescription. The reader should be aware that the specific discussion maynot explicitly describe all embodiments possible and alternatives areimplicit. Also, this discussion may not fully explain the generic natureof the invention and may not explicitly show how each feature or elementcan actually be representative or equivalent elements. Again, these areimplicitly included in this disclosure. Where the invention is describedin device-oriented terminology, each element of the device implicitlyperforms a function. It should also be understood that a variety ofchanges may be made without departing from the essence of the invention.Such changes are also implicitly included in the description. Thesechanges still fall within the scope of this invention.

Further, each of the various elements of the invention and claims mayalso be achieved in a variety of manners. This disclosure should beunderstood to encompass each such variation, be it a variation of anyapparatus embodiment, a method embodiment, or even merely a variation ofany element of these. Particularly, it should be understood that as thedisclosure relates to elements of the invention, the words for eachelement may be expressed by equivalent apparatus terms even if only thefunction or result is the same. Such equivalent, broader, or even moregeneric terms should be considered to be encompassed in the descriptionof each element or action. Such terms can be substituted where desiredto make explicit the implicitly broad coverage to which this inventionis entitled. It should be understood that all actions may be expressedas a means for taking that action or as an element which causes thataction. Similarly, each physical element disclosed should be understoodto encompass a disclosure of the action which that physical elementfacilitates. Such changes and alternative terms are to be understood tobe explicitly included in the description.

1. An applicator device for the application of liquid or semi-liquidhair care products comprising: a handle; a reservoir in said handle forcontainment of said hair care products; a plurality of teeth incommunication with said handle; a plurality of apertures in saidplurality of teeth for the expulsion of said liquid or semi-liquid haircare products contained in said reservoir in said handle; and a means oftransferring said liquid or semi-liquid hair care products from saidreservoir to said plurality of apertures in said plurality of teeth. 2.An applicator device as defined in claim 1 wherein said means fortransferring said liquid or semi-liquid hair products from saidreservoir is the manual squeezing of said handle such that said liquidor semi-liquid hair care products are displaced from said reservoir andtransferred to said apertures in said plurality of teeth.
 3. Anapplicator device as defined in claim 1 wherein said means fortransferring said liquid or semi-liquid hair products is a handle thatwhen placed in a first position provides a barrier separating saidreservoir from said plurality of apertures and when placed in a secondposition allows for the free flow of said liquid or semi-liquid haircare products from said reservoir in said handle to said plurality ofapertures in said plurality of teeth.
 4. A method for applying liquid orsemi-liquid hair care products to a user's hair comprising: theplacement of said liquid or semi-liquid hair care products in arefillable reservoir wherein said refillable reservoir is contained inan apparatus said apparatus further comprising: a handle that housessaid reservoir, which contains said hair care products; a plurality ofteeth in communication with said handle; a plurality of apertures insaid plurality of teeth for the expulsion of said liquid or semi-liquidhair care products contained in said reservoir in said handle; and ameans of transferring said liquid or semi-liquid hair care products fromsaid reservoir to said plurality of apertures in said plurality ofteeth; the transfer of said liquid or semi-liquid hair care productsfrom said reservoir to said plurality of apertures in said plurality ofteeth through said transferring means.
 5. A method as defined in claim 4wherein said means for transferring said liquid or semi-liquid hairproducts from said reservoir is the manual squeezing of said handle suchthat said liquid or semi-liquid hair care products are displaced fromsaid reservoir and transferred to said apertures in said plurality ofteeth.
 6. A method as defined in claim 4 wherein said means fortransferring said liquid or semi-liquid hair products is a handle thatwhen placed in a first position provides a barrier separating saidreservoir from said plurality of apertures and when placed in a secondposition allows for the free flow of said liquid or semi-liquid haircare products from said reservoir in said handle to said plurality ofapertures in said plurality of teeth.